The Tejon Indian Tribe and Hard Rock International have broken ground on the next phase of Hard Rock Casino Tejon, an investment of more than $725m that turns the property into Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon. The opening is expected in summer 2028.
The expansion adds 406 rooms, 119 of them suites, and 900 new slot machines, taking the floor to 3,000. It also brings a conference space with three meeting rooms and an outdoor events area, two pools with cabanas and loungers, and a Rock Spa with 13 treatment rooms. Construction began straight after the ceremony.
What it means for the market
California remains a market where land-based infrastructure is growing faster than the online segment. Hard Rock Casino Tejon opened in November 2025 in Mettler, less than 15 miles south of Bakersfield, and in under a year has become a major entertainment hub for Kern County. The hotel and events space should pull in more visitors, and with them demand for adjacent services, from local media to affiliate traffic aimed at land-based casinos.
Tribe chairman Octavio Escobedo III said the project continues a long-running strategy of building a resort destination. Property president Mike Bean said the site has established itself as one of the state's leading gaming destinations in less than a year.
Construction will create more than 1,500 jobs, with 350 permanent positions added once the property opens. Total staff at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tejon will exceed 1,700. For Kern County and the southern San Joaquin Valley, that is a notable contribution to employment and tourism.
The project matters to the CIS affiliate segment only indirectly: resorts of this scale tend to lift brand traffic and the operator's partner programmes, but they will not move online verticals in the region.
